H.E. Kagame and First Lady Jeanette Kagame lay a wreath at a mass grave in a past Rwanda genocide commemoration.                 Photo courtesy

I have carefully read the entire article “The Rwanda Hit List”... by Keith Harmon Snow and I think he is making very serious allegations. I am not sure about the authenticity of his sources but these allegations deserve serious analysis and investigation.

 

However any research into Rwanda Genocide that ignores the role of the international community and its failures in Rwanda lacks objectivity. External actors deserve to be scrutinised more than RPF.

 

Keith is not denying genocide out rightly; it is not easy to do so by any one including those who planned and executed it. He says:

 

“Clearly, there is evidence of persecution and threats of persecution against Tutsis based on the established realities about acts of genocide committed by members of the Hutu ethnic group in Rwanda between April 6, 1994 and July 1994.”

 

Keith is wrong in attitude and facts as regards Genocide in Rwanda in that he downplays the figures and also presumptuously implicates RPF in the acts of Genocide. I think it is wrong to define Genocide in terms of figures. It does not matter how small or big the figure may be; the issue is whether the act falls in the definition of the Geneva Convention on Genocide. Article 2 identifies the elements:

 

(a)  Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

 

Therefore it is immaterial whether the figure was inflated or not, it is enough that a group of people (Tutsis) was targeted and actually killed. Nobody can deny that this happened in 1994 in Rwanda and I may add that even before 1994 acts of Genocide were done in Rwanda at different stages in Rwanda’s recent history (see state sovereignty versus individual rights in Rwanda Genocide 1994 by Kayumba David) .

 

So Keith should not mislead readers about figures. Even the killing of one  individual for belonging to a certain group should be treated with the seriousness that it deserves if we are build societies that respect individual dignity.

 

About RPF’s  role in Genocide, I am not prepared to argue for or against it but  I can only reason that, given the history of Rwanda from 1959 to 1990, the governments of the day continuously perceived Tutsis to be enemies of the state and as mentioned above, Tutsis have always been vulnerable to state suspicion and hence persecution. So, it is obvious that when RPF invaded Rwanda with a force never seen before, the state was again out to witch- hunt the innocent civilians. This I believe RPF knew from the start that there were to be serious consequences upon Tutsis who lived in Rwanda. This fact was also obvious even to the international community which later spent much of the time debating as whether what was happening in Rwanda was genocide.

 

The issue is whether Rwandans in exile had to remain in exile forever in order to avoid the oppressive regime of the day in Rwanda turning on the necks of Tutsis who lived in Rwanda. And this goes to the depth of  fundamental rights of any body. 

 

The time for change had arrived. No one should be excused for committing genocide in Rwanda be it RPF, those who sponsored the then regime in Rwanda, those who were on duty under the Geneva convention, those who refused to even acknowledged that Genocide was happening, or the UN which maintained a force which had no useful mandate.

 

Keith, seems to know much of what RPF did than what the government of Rwanda did. I think it would be more helpful if Keith addressed all the issues with the equanimity they deserve. If Keith has strong evidence against RPF, he should as well have even stronger evidence about the genocide government, its allies and indeed UN and as a member of the human family, he should assist Rwanda in constituting legal proceedings in the international court of Justice against every one implicated. Singling out RPF and making it the object of all accusation is not helping Rwanda but helping to nurture suspicion, hatred, tension, and misunderstanding.

 

Rwanda needs to deal with its sad history and build sustainable foundation upon which all people of Rwanda can stand on. It is even more important that Rwanda should use every opportunity to solidify the spirit of ‘Ubuntu’. No perfect solution can come from outside Rwanda. The outside world disappointed Rwanda in 1994 and it can do it again given the opportunity.

 

If  the government of Rwanda is abusing the fundamental rights of people, then it is a matter of time it will fail. I sometimes get disappointed about our lack of sense to learn from our history. The Rwanda government faces enormous challenges to rewrite the history of Rwanda and so it cannot afford to do things anyhow unless we forget and fail to appreciate the failures of past regimes. Rwanda cannot afford to allow some issues especially those pertaining to injustice to go unresolved. For example Keith talks about Gacaca as follows:

 

Rwandans inside and outside Rwanda are accused of 'genocide' or 'complicity in genocide' through fabricated evidence, coerced testimonies, bribery, and petty jealousies. There is no possibility of any kind of fair trial procedure in Rwanda and no possibility of freely investigating facts, or identifying and securing witnesses.

 

It was this year in February that I learnt of the way Gacaca works and it was a case involving Pr. Peday Ntihanabayo who was sentenced to life by a Gahogo Gacaca. The way it was done somehow fits in the description of Keith above. This is sad because a traditional institution which was established for a good purpose is now being abused by some individuals.  However, the difference that needs to be observed here is that Pr. Peday Ntihanbayo is not a victim of what Keith calls ‘state machination’. He is a victim of fabricated evidence, bribery, and petty jealousies from individuals who are capable of abusing a system. This is not the state doing it but individuals. But the state must not allow a government department to behave with impunity, and so Gacaca institution need to be re-visited because it deals in matters of great importance to the history and the future of the country.

 

So what   am I saying?  While miscourage of justice happens even in better constituted court systems, Rwanda needs to be at forefront to safe guard every effort directed to the common good of all from any possible misuse. Remembering that RPF is reconstructing a country shattered by bad politics of the past. This means that even if some of the issues raised by those who don’t deal with us kindly, government should take interest in them with view of rectify things where necessary.

 

Finally, I believe that institutions should be established for the sake of creating jobs but for purposes that serve the human good. UN and the community of nations must grapple with their failures in Rwanda and assist Rwanda to rebuild itself by letting Rwanda free from any form of threats that may lead it to misdirect effort. If the community of nations really believes in the rule of law, they should demonstrate it by accepting to their responsibility for Genocide. Membership to such international organisation should not be reduced from being the membership of citizens of the country to that of a small ruling group.

 

Keith and others need to give RPF government some benefit of doubt at a scale balancing what so far has been gained as opposed to the constrains, challenges, pressures and the geo-political interferences from external forces. Keith sounds angry at RPF and I hope it does not bear on his research. Some of the sources are not verifiable.

 

Some questions for Keith: 

• What informs your research, and the objectives of your research?
• Do you have evidence for some of the allegations?
• What can you propose for the Government of Rwanda to do in light of what you are saying?  
• Is the removal of Mr. Paul Kagame the possible solution to the dehumanisation of Hutus You said that both Tutsi and Hutus are being Persecuted by the Regime isn’t possible then that the president is neutral in dealing with political opponents? 
• What do you make of so many cases where Rwandese who lives in exile can point to individuals in former government as the ones who killed their relatives? 
• What have you done after learning that you are on Mr. Kagame’s hit list? 
• How authentic is that hit list from the Belgium human rights group?

 

By David Kayumba.